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Written by Terri Nealon

Published: January 29 2023

Last Updated: February 15 2023

Hits: 1318

Our SLAGA Winter Potluck, held at the Pavilion at Lemay in the unique and historic Jefferson Barracks Park, is the perfect cabin fever escape to enjoy good food, hear latest SLAGA news, win prizes, find caches, and meet up with friends.

Read more: A Cabin Fever Favorite - Winter Potluck 2023

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Written by Pete Shaw

Published: December 11 2021

Last Updated: December 11 2021

Hits: 1978

THE SLAGA TWELVE DAYS OF CACHEMAS ARE BACK!!!

Here’s how it works: For 12 consecutive days beginning December 13th, 2021 (Day 1), a new cache will be published and every day afterwards until December 24th. If you are able to First to Find, FTF, one of these daily caches, an FTF Cachemas Ornament will be in the container for you to keep. Once again, L Frank has designed a unique ornament that can be converted to a cache container for a future hide; or, you may keep it, your choice. PLEASE, if you get an FTF on one of the 12 days, do not go for another one until Bonus Day, let someone else have the fun.

This year, there will be a Bonus Cache on December 31st. EVERYONE is eligible to FTF the bonus whether or not you have FTFed a Cachemas hide. This cache can only be found by using all the codes inside of the container of each daily cache. Keep these codes and use them to solve the location of the Bonus cache which will publish on the final day, December 31st. The Bonus solution will be included in the final day Cache description and I am promised, it is not a difficult solution. We are publishing the Bonus 7 days after the 12^th day of Cachemas in order to give cachers time to acquire all the 12 codes.

THE BONUS CACHE CONTAINS TWO LARGE PREMIUM GEOCOINS

AS WELL AS AN AWESOME ORNAMENT

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Written by Den Mother

Published: October 23 2017

Last Updated: October 23 2017

Hits: 3816

Photo by "The Griff"

The 2017 Grave Hop event took place entirely within beautiful Bellefontaine Cemetery on October 21 this year. The cemetery has seen the placement of a dozen geocaches since 2016, many sponsored by SLAGA. This year, Bellefontaine graciously provided a parking area, registration tent, and portapotty for the Grave Hop participants. L Frank and Denmother hosted the event, and sent 16 four-person teams to starting points all over the cemetery. The teams were given a list of gravestone symbols and had four hours to find and record information on as many as they could find. Over 150 different symbols were recorded, in addition to some bonus symbols which were not on the list. The top three teams were: 1. Team Hollenbeck/Rogers (1475 points), 2. Team HUGS (How-D, spiritwolf922, the Griffs) (1340 points), and 3. Team excagirl (1185 points).

Congratulations to everyone who participated!

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Written by David DeWitt

Published: October 16 2017

Last Updated: October 16 2017

Hits: 3372

Join us at St. Charles Smartt Field for the premiere of the 2017 GIFF films.

Attending this event will earn you the official GIFF 2017 souvenir!

THE ART OF GEOCACHING

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Congratulations to the GIFF 2017 finalists:
A Travel Bug's Life | GeoElmo6000
Antarctica | svieca
FOUND IT! (My Geocaching Adventure) | K8brownie
FTFever | AlboGIFF_Team
Geocaching Day in Vilnius | kaimynas
Geocaching is free | lat&long junkie
Geocaching: Your Passport to Adventure | alienchauncey
Geo early learning | Pigwig2
Harry Dirtski and Disco Box (org. Brudny Henryk i Disco Box) | QbaPL
Little Geo-rge | Charros Team
The Art of Geocaching (Canada) | GunnerMac
The Art of Geocaching (USA) | Zaise
The discovery of the FTF-Hunter | treasurehuntergd
The Future of Geocaching | .alma.
The Reviewer’s Day | BruteFilmCZ
The Road To Geocacher | Bakatono
TRIBUTE | sleepyeve

FILMS SCREEN WORLDWIDE | NOVEMBER 2-6, 2017

There's no arguing that geocaching is an art, as much as it is a game. In designing a creative container, writing a memorable log, or going to great lengths to reach a cache, we express ourselves every time we play. See how the community has turned geocaching into an art form by attending a 2017 GIFF Event

"Where?

EAA 32 Building at St Charles Smartt Field, 6390 Grafton Ferry Rd, Portage Des Sioux, MO 63373

When is it?

7:00 PM to about 9:00 PM , November 4th, 2017.

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Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: October 15 2016

Last Updated: October 18 2016

Hits: 2934

A few weeks ago, SLAGA was contacted by Girl Scout troop leader Katherine Meirink, inquiring if we had anyone willing to teach a dozen fifth-grade girls how to geocache.  Of course, the answer was a resounding YES!

On October 5, Nancy Gelb (walkingstic-stl), Nan Fritschle (nan-d1955), Evelyn Fenter (arabbit, of arabbit&ubuck), Bill Lange (How-D) and Patricia Hutchison (spiritwolf922) showed up at the Dog Museum entrance of Queeny Park to introduce 12 students and three adults to geocaching.

Walkingstic-stl had already been busily setting out her gear, which included samples of caches, trackables and swag, as well as four temporary caches interspersed among ‘live’ caches for the kids to find.

At about 3:30 pm, members of Troop 1247 of St. Clement’s arrived with their leaders and gathered at the picnic tab-2-2le where walkingstic-stl began with introductions of the other SLAGA members who were assisting her, then engaged her students by asking what they already knew about geocaching and GPS units.  The kids enthusiastically responded and asked their own questions.

The presentation was brief due to time constraints, but walkingstic-stl and her supporters were able to explain geocaching etiquette and what to expect with searching for caches, such as sizes of containers and signing logs.  She also introduced them to some geocaching terms such as ‘muggle’ – which the students all knew from Harry Potter – swag and CITO.  Several of the volunteers reinforced the idea that cachers are eco-friendly and that to keep our game board clean and fun for everyone, it is a good practice to pick up trash whenever we see it.

Walkingstick-stl also stressed safety, reminding the students that they would be in an active parking lot and crossing the entrance to the park.  “Watch out for elephants!” was her mantra for this lesson – and one which was repeated throughout the next hour, as volunteers reminded the students to look up from their GPS units periodically to make sure they weren’t walking in front of a car.

Each student was provided a small bag of swag to trade at the temporary caches – the ‘live’ caches were all too small for swag – and, splitting into three groups, they were off to find their first hides.

ETrexes in hand, walkingstic-stl led one set of girls with the troop leader, nan-d1955 took off with another lot and How-D and arabbit headed off with the last group.  How-D’s and arabbit’s charges headed toward their first location, zeroing out quickly and beginning to look around.  It took a few minutes for them to spot the hide, with How-D suggesting that they fan out a little, reminding them of the title of the cache – a temporary called Cave Dweller – and explaining that geocachers used more than their eyes to puzzle out where something could be hidden.  In this case, the cache was stowed in a crevice between two large boulders and had a slim stone covering the entryway.

There’s nothing quite like the cry of “Found it!” by the first-time cacher, and the smiles on the faces of the SLAGA members showed the same delight, pleased at having passed that excitement along to their students, and hopefully, future geocachers.

Throughout the lesson, the SLAGA volunteers answered questions, offered their insights on caching as well as emphasizing the need to stay together and work together – no cacher left behind! – while walking between hides.  The students loved finding the larger containers, eagerly spilling the contents and making their trades, then signing in and putting the cache back in its hiding space for the next bunch to find.

How-D’s and arabbit’s group were at one cache when walkingstic-stl’s students approached.  The kids at the cache began hurriedly signing the log while some of the others worked to distract the newcomers so the cache could be replaced for them to experience the same fun finding it.

All too soon, the session came to an end and the Girl Scouts had to gather in the parking lot to leave for their next activities for the evening.  The leaders appeared to be quite pleased with the results and profusely thanked walkingstic-stl and her supporters.  Before they left, the SLAGA representatives suggested to the Girl Scouts that if they had any further questions or just wanted to learn more about geocaching, to contact SLAGA through its website, and to consider looking for and attending events to meet other cachers.

Groups such as Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts looking for assistance with the geocaching merit badge are encouraged to contact SLAGA via the local website.  Because these sessions are provided by volunteers, it is best to inquire as early as possible to ensure that someone is available during the timeframe requested.